Climate warming is considered to be among the most serious of anthropogenic stresses to the environment, because it not only has direct effects on biodiversity, but it also exacerbates the harmful effects of other human‐mediated threats. The associated consequences are potentially severe, particularly in terms of threats to species preservation, as well as in the preservation of an array of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity. Among the most affected groups of animals are insects—central components of many ecosystems—for which climate change has pervasive effects from individuals to communities. In this contribution to the scientists' warning series, we summarize the effect of the gradual global surface temperature increase on insects, in terms of physiology, behavior, phenology, distribution, and species interactions, as well as the effect of increased frequency and duration of extreme events such as hot and cold spells, fires, droughts, and floods on these parameters. We warn that, if no action is taken to better understand and reduce the action of climate change on insects, we will drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems. We discuss perspectives on relevant ways to conserve insects in the face of climate change, and we offer several key recommendations on management approaches that can be adopted, on policies that should be pursued, and on the involvement of the general public in the protection effort.

1. In the context of global change, modifications in winter conditions may disrupt the seasonal phenology patterns of organisms, modify the synchrony of closely interacting species and lead to unpredictable outcomes at different ecological scales. 2. Parasites are present in almost every food web and their interactions with hosts greatly contribute to ecosystem functioning. Among upper trophic levels of terrestrial ecosystems, insect parasitoids are key components in terms of functioning and species richness. Parasitoids respond to climate change in similar ways to other insects, but their close relationship with their hosts and their particular life cycle – alternating between parasitic and free‐living forms – make them special cases. 3. This article reviews of the mechanisms likely to undergo plastic or evolutionary adjustments when exposed to climate change that could modify insect seasonal strategies. Different scenarios are then proposed for the evolution of parasitoid insect seasonal ecology by exploring three anticipated outcomes of climate change: (i) decreased severity of winter cold; (ii) decreased winter duration; and (iii) increased extreme seasonal climatic events and environmental stochasticity. 4. The capacities of insects to adapt to new environmental conditions, either through plasticity or genetic evolution, are highlighted. They may reduce diapause expression, adapt to changing cues to initiate or terminate diapause, increase voltinism, or develop overwintering bet‐hedging strategies, but parasitoids' responses will be highly constrained by those of their hosts. 5. Changes in the seasonal ecology of parasitoids may have consequences on host–parasitoid synchrony and population cycles, food‐web functioning, and ecosystem services such as biological pest control.

All organisms on Earth have evolved biological rhythms to face alternation of periods of favorable and unfavorable environmental conditions, at various temporal scales. Diapause is a state of seasonal dormancy adapted to recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions and triggered by biotic and abiotic factors that precede the arrival of these conditions. Several monographs already review the mechanisms of diapause expression in arthropods, from initiation to termination phases. Rather than adding another review to the literature on this topic, this paper primarily aims to link past concepts on seasonal strategies with new perspective on diapause research in arthropods. By focusing on insects, I examine the legacy of diapause history research in terrestrial arthropods since antiquity but mostly over the past 3 centuries, its contribution to the understanding of insect seasonal ecology, and I explore some of the reasons why it is still relevant to study diapause. I highlight some of the topical issues on which current work focuses to better understand and integrate arthropod diapause with their ecology, especially in the climate change context and for the provision of ecosystem services.